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by Team Dragon Star
Summary: Entry for the TDS Valentine's Day Contest. On one end of the spectrum was Gohan, savior of the world and the most popular kid in Orange Star High. On the other was Videl, daughter of a liar and fraud. How will love form between the two unlikeliest people?


**Disclaimer: TDS does not own Dragonball Z**

Since the miraculous defeat of the evil monster Cell by the hands of World Tournament winner, Mr. Satan, he was heralded as Earth's hero, and his fame skyrocketed. His style of fighting was commonly practiced by school boys and girls alike in hopes of becoming such an extraordinary figure when they became old enough, and shops began to mass-produce his merchandise. A city even changed its name in honor of him and became known as SatanCity henceforth.

But in the time of delighted peace did not last, for one day a widely-read newspaper proclaimed that Mr. Satan was a fraud, and the true hero was in actuality a mere child of eleven, dubbed "The Delivery Boy" during the Cell Games. This news spread like wildfire as the media gobbled this information up greedily, sending huge waves of reporters to the boy who resided in Mount Paozu. Evidence all pointed to the fact that it was this child called Son Gohan who defeated Cell, _not_ Mr. Satan as he had led everyone to believe.

The world was furious. How dare that man steal the honor from the rightful hands of someone else, and a child no less?! To make matters even worse, one day Mr. Satan stepped out and publicly admitted that this was all true, and he had stolen the fame.

The Hercule stocks died. Companies went bankrupt. Satan's style of fighting was permanently banned. SatanCity changed its name back to OrangeStarCity, this time for good. As for Mr. Satan himself, he was reduced to a poor man living in a remote corner of the slums, barely getting by every day together with his daughter. The world scorned him and did not feel pity. Many felt he had deserved it.

And all of this resulted in Videl's current state as she muttered heavy profanities under her breath whilst picking up her school supplies. Adjusting the thick glasses set askew, she stood upright once more to head to her next class. Videl Satan was a young girl with quite a temper and supreme street smarts and fighting skills, honed from practically growing up in the slums. She often dressed in the same battered white – now grayish from grime – shirt and threadbare black shorts because of the lack of money, along with a pair of old glasses for her atrocious eyesight. The raven-haired girl was often pushed around and bullied in Orange Star High, and had many bad nicknames such as "the liar's daughter" and others along the lines of that. So in this environment at the bottom of the social hierarchy in all senses, she became one of the surliest girls of her age, feared and looked down alike by all.

As she straightened her books and squinted at the clock through thick lens, she realized with a startle that it was supposed to be lunch by now, which would explain why the hallways had completely vacated. A loud grumble reminded her of the raging hunger she combated fiercely every day. _Cup noodles will have to do, _she thought sadly to her starved stomach. Stuffing her books roughly into her locker, she drew out a paper bag and from within a cylindrical cup. By locating the nearest water dispenser that offered hot water, she quickly got steaming instant noodles.

Videl settled comfortably in one of the benches in a secluded green section of the school, enjoying the tranquility of the atmosphere while she could. No bullies, no annoying people, just her and the nice chirping of birds. With a contented sigh, she slurped noodles noisily, picking up copious amounts with once-use chopsticks. "Mmmm…"

Her head was filled with thoughts about the new set of katas she picked up from a movie, wondering if it was actually physically possible to perform it without the usage of artful camera shooting, green screens, and extensive cables. Setting her now empty cup down onto the wooden bench, she stretched, focusing on every muscle.

As she took a deep breath, Videl readied herself in the beginning stance. Block, right hook, then a spinning side kick, quickly followed up by a rapid uppercut. That would be enough to down a normal person, she was sure. "Alright, one, two, three," she muttered under her breath, eyes on the target in front of her, an unfortunate sapling right in front of her field of vision. But right in the middle of her kick, she swore she saw a flash of white and orange, followed by the tiniest rustle of a bush. As she sensed this, her footing slipped and she face planted unceremoniously onto the soft grass. Scrambling back on her feet, she yelled angrily, "Who's there?" She was quite unnerved by the fact that someone would be watching her like a stalker, and adrenaline pumped through her veins in anticipation of the mysterious person.

What she did not expect, however, was to see a shy figure hesitantly walk out of the cover of the trees with a sheepish grin. "Sorry," he apologized gently.

Videl's eyes widened in recognition, fists dropping back down to her sides.

Son Gohan?

In her mind, he was forever imprinted as the person who stole the fame and life away from her father, the one that caused her current state, though there was a smidgen of grudging respect that acknowledged his power and bravery for defeating Cell. Since then, Gohan became the number one most revered figure of the world while her father was shoved to last. What's more was that media did much digging and came to the astonishing conclusion that he was also the son of the twenty-third World Tournament legendary winner Son Goku, and of a princess on top of all that. With such a reputation combined with brains _and _brawns, it was no wonder that he became the most popular student in Orange Star High, fawned by all.

The thing that really made Videl grit her teeth and want to bash him in the face was Gohan's impossibly kind and humble nature. All of this did not blow his ego out of proportion as one would expect, and he remained one of the most modest people the black-haired girl had the unfortunate luck to meet. This perfect personality was just too hard to hate, and that fueled Videl's burning abhorrence for him. It didn't help either when every time she saw all the girls squealing over him, she'd feel a strange pang of bitterness and jealousy that confused her emotions even more. "What do you want now?" she snapped waspishly, taking back a defensive stance again.

"Whoa, I don't mean anything bad," Gohan replied frantically, waving his hands to show that he meant no harm. "You just… well, you've got an _amazing_ style of fighting that I've never seen in other normal people. Especially not a girl."

Bad answer. Snarling, Videl charged at him and decked him in the arm. Or at least, that was what she tried to do when Gohan smoothly dodged. "What the hell do you mean normal people? Are you looking down on us or something? Just because we've never saved the word doesn't mean that we're different. And are you sexist or something? Me being a girl doesn't make a difference whether I could fight or not, you… you bigot!" Unbeknownst to her, the fact stood that Gohan was indeed different from normal people because he carried the blood of the fiercest race of humanoid aliens in the universe.

Gohan showed surprise at the usage of bigot. "That wasn't what I meant either," he said weakly, taking a step back. "I mean like, you never had proper training have you? I can tell from your movements. And I'm just saying that I don't see girls really do much of... eh… fighting. You know, they're all squealing all the time here, it's kind of weird. Well except my mom and Launch and 18 but they're completely different since-" he abruptly shut up and covered his mouth, realizing that he had begun to ramble.

Videl's face colored at the mention that she "never had proper training". That part was true, sadly, and all she picked up were honed skills from street fighting blended with movie techniques. Another part of her mind thought indecently about how cute the other teen had seemed whilst talking, and she swiftly told that side to shut up before it got out of hand. She scrutinized Gohan cautiously, awaiting his next move.

An awkward silence stretched between the two until the world savior finally said, "Well… I guess… I will just… um… walk away… sorry for the intrusion…"

"Wait! Can you stay a bit more?" Videl blurted out, her cheeks coloring further at her strange behavior. The quicker he left, the better!

There was a strange childish joy in his eyes as he turned back. "Sure!" he said cheerily.

What's done was done. Videl could go without her pride … for just a bit. "I was wondering… Can you teach me how to fight properly?" No, no, no! What was she doing now?

Gohan was taken aback by her strange request. "Uhhh…"

"You don't need to," Videl said quickly, "actually, I don't need you to at all."

But to her surprise, Gohan broke into a wide grin. "Sure, why not? It'll be fun! You've got a lot of the basics down anyways it'll be super easy to teach you. You're a quick learner, aren't you?"

"Uhhh, I guess," she mumbled.

"So, you wanna? I could definitely teach you some super cool things," Gohan continued enthusiastically. "I bet you could even learn how to fly and do the Kamehameha! You're probably almost on mom's level, as well."

Part of her wondered how monstrously powerful Gohan's mother was, and another part squealed in glee at the idea of learning all the supernatural tactics the raven-haired teen was capable of as she thought they could only be done by aliens, or something along the lines. If she had to swallow her pride to do so, then so be it. "Thanks," she said quietly.

He jumped up and punched the air. "Awesome! We'll start tomorrow after-school, if that's alright with you. Oh, and one more thing." A thoughtful expression was on his face as he stepped forwards to Videl, who took an involuntary step back. Grinning, he plucked off her lopsided glasses. "You know, you should consider getting contacts one of these days. Your eyes are so beautiful, especially the blue." With that, he handed back her glasses and waved, turning back to leave.

Videl watched the retreating figure of Gohan, her blush coming back stronger than ever. Her heart thumped irregularly in her chest, so embarrassingly loud she believed the other could hear.

As the school day finally passed, all that had transpired still dwelled in her mind even while she packed her belongings and headed out the main hall. Somehow within the span of a few minutes she had became the pupil of her sworn enemy, with her first lesson the next day.

Alas, it was also the initial beginnings of a budding romance between the two unlikeliest people.


End file.
